Change

In that lengthy update, I forgot to mention an important change happening. Target Man is changing jobs. No he is not leaving Target or anything like that (I mean what would happen to my blog title?), but he is switching positions. As of Monday, February 2, he will no longer be the HR manager for the store, instead he will be over the sales floor. After much thought and prayer, we have decided that this is the right move for him.
I'm a bit wary of him leaving HR, cause I know how to look for non retail HR jobs, but he really thinks that he will like the operations side of Target. My other fear is an increase in hours, but that is most likely PTSD left over from his first year at Target! He was on the sales floor his first year, and remembers very little of his life from that year. He had no set schedule, when he closed, at least two, usually three times a week, he was never home before 1 am, and he could never actually use his vacation. Yes he had all this time to take, but there was always something major going on, making it really inconvenient. If they were done setting Christmas, then Valentines was on its way. In the middle of the summer the "back to school" set made it impossible to leave. Anyway, these things that make me wary, but this store is different, so hopefully things will be different.
Target Man is excited about the change. He really doesn't enjoy paperwork, and this will be less, and he is ready for something different. We have moved and changed positions with Target, every 18 months or so, and this is right on schedule for him. Every time we have a baby, we change something with his job, so far this is normal. At least this time we aren't moving within 2 months of having a baby!
The other thing is, in all this talk about his career and where he wants to go, I think I have finally convinced him that now is as good as time as any to start working towards his MBA. Getting him to actually take the GMAT will be another story.

Christmas, Consitpation, and every other illness you can think of

Since I haven't written in a month, and as soon as the baby is born, I probably won't write for another month, I figured now would be a good time to play catch up.
We'll start with Christmas. Both my parents and Target Man's parents were able to come to our house this year, so the boys were in heaven. Target Baby is in love with my mother, which I think is pretty neat, because he still isn't really the most friendly kid out there and Target Boy loves Target Man's mother, since she will pretty much play with him 24 hours a day. So, I got a slight break from being highest priority on both their lists. Sadly, it didn't last too long, because Target Boy ended up getting pretty sick on Christmas.

He was so excited to come downstairs and see what Santa had left him, but the enthusiasm didn't last through opening presents. He received a bike from Target Man's parents, which he immediately gifted to Target Baby. Pretty much everything he opened, he gave to his brother. He kept climbing up on my lap, crying and saying him tummy hurt. Target Baby, on the other hand, was in heaven. Not only did he get to play with everything he opened, he got to play with all of Target Boy's stuff too.

We spent the rest of Christmas playing Rock Band (which we now own, thank you parents) in our jammies, doing a puzzle, I think we might have watched a movie at some point, and picking at the ham we made. I'm not really a huge fan of sit down dinner on Christmas Day, so we made a really yummy ham, some rolls, I think I made rice at one point, and we just kind of snacked all day long. It was really laid back and wonderful (minus the sick kid).
The Friday after Christmas, I drug my mother out of bed and got to Target when it opened. Its the first time I've ever hit the day after Christmas sales, and I will be back next year. I got about 40 rolls of bounty paper towels, Ziploc bags, and dishwasher detergent all half price because of Christmas themed boxes. I also did buy some lights, garland, cookie cutters, etc and stocking stuff for next year. It was fun, some may say crazy, but really fun and worth it.
After that, I took my lump of a sick child to the pediatrician's office and found out that not only did he have a severe ear infection (a secondary problem, not the one he was complaining about) but he was severely constipated to the point that his tummy was visibly distended from across the room. After being pretty much completely potty trained, he stopped pooping in the potty a few months ago. Apparently, he has been holding his stools (I know way to much info) and has what they call encopresis (warning this link does talk about poop and pretty much only about poop). Anyway, now with daily doses of Miralax, we are seeing some improvements and he is no longer in pain. And that pretty much wraps up Christmas.

For New Year's we did what we always do...take care of a sick Target Man. Last year, is the only year that Target Man has not been sick for New Year's. This year was probably the worst. For the first time since I have known him (seven years), he stayed home from work! I woke up the Tuesday before New Year's Eve to find him curled up in a ball on the shower floor (a fantastic feat considering our Master Bath shower is tiny). He got out and got all dressed for work, but never made it down the stairs. I think he had a temp of 104, was so weak, and hadn't slept or eaten, so I made him call work. He hunkered down in the darkness of the cave we call the boys bedroom and slept pretty much the entire day. He did go into work for New Year's eve, since he was the only one scheduled to close that night and didn't want to ruin anyone's plans, but just barely survived. Luckily, he was off the next day. I think it took him about a week and a half to fully recover, but Happy New Year's to us, he did get over the nastiness without anyone else getting it!

That brings us to January, which has been quite busy with both the boys in swim lessons at the YMCA (which we finally joined, which makes Target Man really happy), my Choir rehearsals every Tuesday night, Target Boy's first county gymnastics class on Saturdays, and my twice weekly trips to the OB for NSTs, blood work, and doctor's appointments. Throw in Target Man's work schedule, Church Meetings on Sundays and Wednesdays, a baby shower/girl's night out and this month has flown by. I'm glad I filled this month with stuff, because its defiantly not dragging like I was afraid it would.

We now have 4 1/2 weeks till my due date, but my OB has said he will induce at 39 weeks at the latest, because of the risk involved with ICP, so really 3 1/2 weeks. Right now I am itchy, not crying, going insane itchy like I was when diagnosed with ICP while pregnant with Target Baby, but itchy enough to search out the cold parts of the sheets in the middle of the night to make my feet feel better. My labs show that my bile acids are increasing, but they are still in the normal range, which makes me feel much more relaxed. Every Tuesday and Friday the baby has looked good on the non-stress tests, and I've been really happy with the care I am receiving from my OB.

The only other things to report are that I was released from my calling as nursery leader and now have been called to be the Relief Society Pianist. This means, no more crawling on the floor for my very pregnant body, but lots of piano practice, cause I really can't play. And since, this whole post seems to be a list of the various illnesses of our family, Target Boy was diagnosed with Fifths Disease yesterday. For him, no big deal, just a rash with a little itchiness. For me and the five other pregnant women he has been in contact with, a blood test to check for immunity. Because really, the lab people don't see me enough already! Oh, I also warned my OB, because I think at least 3 of those pregnant women are his patients.

So that's the update, hopefully it won't be as long before I post again. And if you actually read all of this, really I'm grateful and impressed!

Target Man as Elvis

The elders quorum had to put on a skit for the ward Christmas Party. This is what they came up with.

Awesome Shopping Week

Target Man thinks I'm really weird, cause I occasionally take pictures of my shopping trips, but I'm really excited about the money I saved this week. This is a picture of my stuff from Target, Kroger, and Martins. I usually don't do both Kroger and Martins, but this week had deals at both that I didn't want to miss, like free yeast and .30 per container Dannon yogurt (we don't like store brand). I cut my Kroger bill by 82% this week, that's a record for me. I also had an awesome CVS trip (without the boys, YAY!!) so thats the second pic.

Target, Kroger, Martins total: $48.11 (plus $4.00 off my next Kroger trip)

CVS total: 4.31 (and still have $5.00 in Extra Care Bucks)

I am addicted to this extreme couponing thing, but you know what, our Christmas candy cost me 0.79 and I bought diapers and wipes for the new baby for a little over $3.00. Also, we don't ever have to buy shampoo, razors, toothpaste, yeast, and after the next couple of weeks, probably toilet paper ever again, so I say this is a good addiction!

It's Christmas Time

That is what Target Boy says everyday. He also asks if Santa is coming everyday, and then answers, with, "No, he is getting the toys ready."

Target Man and I are really excited for Christmas this year, because its the first where Target Boy is really excited about everything. The boys love the tree and although, the bottom half is no longer decorated, its so relaxing to turn off the living room lights and just have the glow of the tree.

Yesterday, Santa came to visit Target for a United Way thing, so Target Man went to make an appearance. Target Boy was so excited to see Santa, he ate dinner faster than I think I've ever seen. Target Baby took his own Santa figure with him and held on to him for almost the entire time.

Target Boy really wanted to talk to Santa, but was in no way, shape, or form going to sit on his lap. He made this very clear all day long. So when it was his turn to talk to him, he walked right up, stopped more than an arm's reach away and pretty much shouted that he wanted star wars toys, trains, cars, and more star wars toys. Then he shoved Target Baby closer and pretty much repeated everything again. It was pretty funny. We did eventually get him to shake hands with Santa and pick out a special candy filled ornament for our tree.

When we got into the car to go home, Target Boy realized that he forgot to mention ScoobyDoo movies and so now keeps telling me that he needs to talk to Santa again. Letter writing is not helping, so hopefully Santa will show up at our ward Christmas party, so Target Boy can scream more things at him!

Crazy Family

Thanksgiving morning, some of my crazy family decided it would be fun to participate in the YMCA's Annual Turkey Trot Biathlon. Two of my sisters, and my brother-in-law, decided it would also be fun to drag Martha and I along with them to count laps at 7:30 in the morning.



My sister Genevieve runs marathons, triathlons, climbs really tall mountains, and generally loves this kind of stuff. She is the one to blame for all the excitement. This was April and Jeff's first event and we are so proud of them. Genevieve killed the other 4 participants in the swim portion and then headed out into the freezing cold for the run. Jeff didn't drown and so I was happy not to have to use my CPR skills.

The start

Booking it down the road

After the swim was over, Martha and I jumped into the van and yelled motivational things from our nice warm, cushy ride. I think the other runners thought we were probably crazy. After it was all over, Genevieve was interviewed for a local news program, and we all headed home for FOOD!

Frozen Hair, didn't her mother teach her not to go out with wet hair?

Crossing the finish line

Our Star Participant, trying not to pant

Gross

We just got back from the library and park. As I was unbuckling Target Boy's carseat, I asked what he was eating. His response, "My boogers!"